This site uses cookies to store information on your computer, to improve your experience. One of the cookies this site uses is essential for parts of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but parts of the site will not work. To find out more about the cookies this site uses and how to delete them, please see the privacy notice.

We are supporting Dementia Awareness Week 2015

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust is supporting ‪#‎DementiaAwarenessWeek‬, which takes place between Sunday 17 and Saturday 23 May.

The trust is committed to doing all we can to improve care and local services for people with the condition - and to help staff and local people gain a better understanding of the condition which affects over 800,000 people in the UK and which which can lead to memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or communication.

Our commitment to improving local services for people with dementia

To make sure we provide the best possible care for local people, over the last year we have been training many of our frontline and office based staff in ‪#‎DementiaAwareness‬ sessions (over 130 staff in the last since months), with many more staff across the trust also committing to become ‪#‎DementiaFriends‬ and ‪#‎DementiaChampions.

We have also been working hard to redecorate our inpatient wards at Teddington Memorial Hospital to make them more accessible and dementia friendly for our patients.

Following advice from the University of Sterling's Dementia Centre - the trust embarked on an ambitious refurbishment, redecoration and maintenance programme to ensure our wards are truly designed around the needs of patients who have dementia. We have already received fantastic feedback from patients, carers and staff about the improvements that have been made as part of this work for local patients with the condition.

About dementia:

One in three people over 65 will die with dementia, while 80 per cent of people in care homes have with dementia or severe memory problems.

Symptoms of dementia include:

Memory loss - problems with short term memory is often the first sign of dementia.

Communication problems - linked to memory loss, communication problems often arise when a person is unable to recall a particular word or phrase in conversation.

Changes in mood - dementia symptoms can have a profound effect on a person's life; this can give rise to mixed emotions (sadness, anxiety, anger).

Dementia symptoms are progressive; they worsen over time. Advanced symptoms usually mean that a person is unable to look themselves without assistance. The Alzheimer's Society - the national charity - helps provide this support.

How you can help:

Dementia Friends and Dementia Champions

If you are interested in finding out more about dementia and how you can help get involved in supporting local people in your community who have the condition - why not consider becoming a Dementia Friend or Dementia Champion?

Dementia Friends undertake face-to-face information/training sessions, or watch an online training video, to gain the knowledge and understanding they need to make a difference and the small ways that you can help in your community.